Trump previews attacks on Biden's son ahead of debate

As Donald Trump and Joe Biden prepare to face off on the debate stage, Trump has previewed one line of attack against his Democratic opponent in a long-running feud over the former president’s attempts to tie Biden to his son’s foreign business dealings.

Hunter Biden’s struggles have been elevated in recent weeks by his felony conviction in a gun trial — proceedings that led Republicans to take a victory lap when government witnesses confirmed the authenticity of his abandoned laptop computer, materials from which have stoked GOP claims that he spent years profiting off his proximity to his father.

Now, Biden and Trump are poised to face off for the first time since 2020 in a debate hosted by CNN at its Atlanta studio, with Trump suggesting he will reprise the attack line.

“It wasn’t Russian disinformation. It was a made-up story for election interference purposes,” Trump said at a recent conservative conference. “I assume we’re going to be talking about that at the debate.”

There will be no in-person audience for the 90-minute debate, a dynamic that threatens to upend expectations.

“It’s telling you what is going on, indirectly, with applause or not applause,” Trump said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. He acknowledged he interrupted Biden too often during the first debate against him in September 2020 and said he had learned from the experience.

Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said there is a ready-made opportunity for the moderators to showcase a level playing field for Trump on Thursday.

“If CNN wants to prove they’re fair and balanced, they should ask Joe Biden why he lied about the existence of Hunter Biden’s laptop on the debate stage four years ago in 2020,” Leavitt told NBC News.

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